Actor Ben Foster is certain he'd be a criminal or dead if he wasn't an actor.
The 36-year-old star has been working in front of the camera for 20 years, after dropping out of high school at 16 years of age, and says if he hadn't got his big Hollywood break his life would have taken a dark turn.
"I think I was born like a rattlesnake," he told GQ magazine. "It's nice that work has facilitated an outlet, otherwise I'd be in prison or dead... Some people are just born with teeth. You gotta chew on something."
Foster, who recently starred in Hell or High Water opposite Jeff and Chris Pine, which told the tale of two brothers' desperate scheme to save their family's Texas ranch, says playing the role of a bank robber in the movie was "a pretty snug fit".
"Drink a lot. Have a lot of sex. Pull yourself up the next day, go to the gym," he stated. "I've been meditating since I was a kid. Transcendental meditation.
"That helps to clean some of the racket, quiet it down at least."
Foster admitted his past characters have a way of rearing their heads from time to time though.
"(Certain characters are) like an ex-lover. You'll hear a song, you'll smell something, you'll look at something you both looked at," he shared. "It will remind you. Because you soften up the meat, tenderise yourself to receive. Parts of it are going to get inside."
